By Lene Andersen. Health care writer, RA and disability advocate, wheelchair user and camera nut. Author of Your Life with Rheumatoid Arthritis: Tools for Managing Treatment, Side Effects and Pain

Monday, December 31, 2012

A Tink Christmas

Hi there! I'm not quite sure where the past week went, but I think it had something to do with rest and relaxation. So no thoughtful; New Year's post this year. Instead, I'll share the annual love extravaganza that is Christmas amongst the Andersens. Which in a way will serve as its own thoughtful New Year's post, because at the end of the day, this is what life is about. Love. And a lot of laughter.Liam contemplated the meaning of Christmas. Or tried to wait patiently for dinner and presents. Either works.

Morgan borrowed Scott's hat. Hip hop looks good on her.

We moved dinner down to the building's Party Room— there was no room at the inn (a.k.a. my mother's apartment) for 11 people to eat and still have elbow room. During dinner, Morgan attacked David. She is particularly fond of squishing his face.

Back upstairs the kids burned off energy

and then we all sang carols, both English and Danish. This frequently got derailed as the participants lost it

Anything dinosaur is good for Liam. And when it's something like this, it's extra phenomenal

We managed to thoroughly confuse, then delight, Ken with a present

JD was a new addition to the festivities and a very welcome one. And not just because he brought goodies from Denmark.

We'd all pitched in to get the Tinks a Very Good Present each and they plotz in very different ways. Liam shows his joy in a very extroverted way, essentially exploding all over the living room, handing out fast and hard hugs and culminating in a 'faint' on his new Lego set.

Morgan, on the other hand, had a quieter reaction, imploding with the joy of getting her very own camera. Everyone got really long hugs and she positively glowed. She's still plotzing a week later.

Thank you for sharing this past year with me. May the love in your life warm you in challenges and joy. Happy New Year!